Shannon Sharpe Praised for Confronting Skip Bayless Over Damar Hamlin Tweet

Former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe has received a wave of support on social media over a tense exchange he had with sports columnist and commentator Skip Bayless regarding Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin.

During a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night, Hamlin collapsed after tackling Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, whose helmet hit his chest. Hamlin went into cardiac arrest, was administered CPR and had his heartbeat restored on the field before being taken to a Cincinnati hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

In another tweet on Tuesday afternoon, the Bills said that he remained in critical condition at the same hospital.

Following the incident, Bayless was heavily criticized for a tweet that read: "No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game - but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome ... which suddenly seems so irrelevant."

Jackson Jaguars punter Logan Cooke was among those who criticized the tweet.

"This is the most inconsiderate thing you could have said. We are human beings not just numbers," he tweeted in response to Bayless.

The NFL eventually announced Monday night that the Bills-Bengals game had been postponed, and then said in an update on Tuesday that the game would not be resumed this week.

Sharpe was notably absent Tuesday from the Fox Sports 1 Undisputed show, which he co-hosts with Bayless, then began Wednesday's edition by addressing his absence. Sharpe said that while injuries are "part of the game" in the NFL, what happened to Hamlin "struck me a little different."

Sharpe said that he's never seen anybody "have to be revived and fight for their life on the field." He then began to talk about how he disagreed with Bayless' tweet and wished he would have taken it down, but Bayless interrupted to say that he would not take it down and stood by what he tweeted.

Sharpe criticizes Bayless for cutting him off, and then explained that he didn't appear on the show Tuesday so that Hamlin, not Bayless' tweet, would be the focus. Bayless responded that he wasn't aware Sharpe was planning to bring it up "because nobody here had a problem with that tweet."

After some more back and forth, the two then appeared to begrudgingly put the dispute aside as they moved forward with the rest of the show. Social media users praised Sharpe for how he handled the exchange, and some directed additional criticism at Bayless.

"Good for you, @ShannonSharpe," ABC Columbia News Sports Director Mike Gillespie wrote in a tweet with a video of the conversation.

"Clearly, Shannon Sharpe is done with Skip, and hopefully FS1," @gsiller23 wrote.

Producer John Lund wrote: "He couldn't wait to interrupt a heartfelt moment and make it all about him, as always. Free Shannon Sharpe from this ignorance."

As of Wednesday afternoon, Bayless' tweet had not been taken down. Some people have speculated on social media that Sharpe and Bayless might not last much longer as co-hosts.

Newsweek reached out to Fox Sports 1 for comment.